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Simple Battery Powered Air Driven Auto Top-Off


sl-atl

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This is a variation on Wet's air driven topoff,

(http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29093)

Why am I posting this? Wet's post was from 2004. There are some different parts available that make it even easier to build, and costs have changed of course.

 

Advantages to this auto top-off: It's cheap; simple; no need to deal with 120V AC power; few parts; mods to the pump are easily reversible; no dealing with the maintenance issues of pumping kalkwasser through a pump; did I mention it's cheap?

 

Cons: It's a little noisy since the pump hangs off the back; the batteries seem to last a long time, but they'll eventually need to be replaced of course.

 

Parts required:

- Hagen Battery Driven Air Pump, $9.99

- Pre-wired float switch from aquahub.com, $10.99

- "Mold a holder" from aquahub.com, $3.95

- 2 small crimp caps or wire nuts

- Nylon hose clamp, bolt & neoprene washer, +/-$2.00

- Air tubing

- Old Gatorade bottle, $0

 

Tools required:

- Wire cutter

- Needle nose pliers

- Drill

- Silicon or super glue

 

Notes:

- I tried a cheaper air pump from the pet store, but Hagen is the way to go (and $9.99 isn't bad.) The other pump didn't have the power to drive the water more than half of the way to the end of the air line. The Hagen pump easily pushes the water from the bottom level of our stand up and into the rear compartment of the Nanocube.

- I chose the "top of the line" model MS8000 float switch with built in splash/snail guard. You could save $4.00 and go with the basic model.

- Short of paying for a Nalgene or similar bottle... I chose the gatorade bottle since it seems sturdier than water or soda bottles, and has a wide lid.

 

How it works:

The float switch is wired in line with one of the battery leads in the air pump. When the water level drops, the float switch closes the circuit and the pump turns on. The pump pushes air into the top of the bottle, creating pressure that forces the water or kalkwasser into the air tubing and up into the tank. When the water level rises, the float switch opens the circuit and the pump turns off again, relieving the pressure in the bottle and stopping the flow of liquid into the tank.

 

Step 1:

Cut one of the the battery lead wires inside the pump, strip the ends, and use the wire nuts to connect these ends to the leads from the float switch. Drill or cut a couple of small notches in the pump housing so that the pump will close back up.

 

post-33837-1205700423_thumb.jpg

 

Step 2:

I chose to attach the float switch to the "mold a holder" (MAH) with a nylon pipe clamp from the hardware store. To make it easy to clean and adjust the switch, I chose a clamp size that would hold the switch housing fast by simple friction, as opposed to mechanically attaching the switch. (It sits in one of the pump compartments, so there is no water movement or livestock to move it out of position.) I drilled a hole through the MAH, then connected the clamp to it using a nylon bolt and nut with a neoprene washer. I placed the assembly in the compartment, and marked the MAH so I would know how and where to "mold" it, then ran the MAH under hot water and bent it as I wanted it. Now the hard part is over.

 

post-33837-1205701103_thumb.jpg

 

Step 3:

Drill 2 holes in the lid of the bottle. One is for the air line from the pump, which should only extend an inch or so into the bottle. The other is for the line to the tank; that one should of course extend to the bottom of the bottle. Measure the lines and place through the lid, then use silicon, gel super glue or something similar to seal them tightly in place. If there are any little air gaps around the holes, then you won't be able to maintain the pressure in the bottle needed to drive the water out. That's it! The mounting of the pump and air lines will depend on your setup. I was lazy and just used a cable tie loop to hang the pump from the back, and used the factory made air line cutouts on the back of the Nanocube to hold the water supply lines in place. Little suction cup air line holders can help keep the air lines coming up and down the back looking tidy.

 

post-33837-1205701639_thumb.jpg

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Is that pump really loud? I found that the really cheap pumps were loud enough to scare the crap out of me while I was staring into the tank. I ended up using a frabill pump (for fishing) that was a significant improvement. Ive also seen this pump at wal-mart that looks like it would be a good option:air pump). I couldn't find it on the wal-mart website but I think it was around 12 or 13 bucks.

 

Another thing that I discovered is that you can "overclock" these pumps by increasing the voltage to 3 or 4 volts. This gives the pumps a little more power which in turn moves the water a little faster and farther. Since the pumps aren't running continuously, it shouldn't harm them to bump up the juice a tad bit.

 

Anyways, I built a variation of this DIY and it works awesome. Yours looks good too, I'm glad there are people keeping this great DIY alive, Nice job.

 

edit:spelling

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The cheaper pump was definitely loud! The Hagen pump isn't quiet, but it's quietER and works fast enough that it isn't running for very long. I'm thinking about wrapping it with something to muffle it, but my wife hasn't complained about it yet so the pressure's off. :) Those other pumps look worth looking into also!

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I haven't posted in a while, but this seemed like an opportune time!

 

First off, excellent write-up. My little brother has a nano that would benefit from this, but he still uses a glass top to control evaporation and so he was not interested in this system. But I still am!

 

Has anybody used this system to dose calcium, magnesium or alkalinity supplements? Just replace the float switch with a timer or controller of some sort and then measure the flow rate at the height required to get your duration. Since these pumps appear to run off 3V DC, you could potentially run them directly from the output of a micro controller to get reasonably precise and consistent dosing. Just depends on the current draw of the motor. You would need three pumps unless you were geeky enough to use solenoids to control the air flow, but it'd still be much cheaper than three dosing pumps!

 

 

Cheers,

Marty

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You would need three pumps unless you were geeky enough to use solenoids to control the air flow,

 

We are aquarium people, we're all geeks!!!! lol

 

I have two solinoids that automatically dose alk and calcium. The solinoids are controlled by a 555 timer circuit with a check to make sure they don't dose within 30 minutes of eachlor. It works pretty good. I'm working on a pic chip to control everything in my tank (diy acua controller). I just strarted on it, should be ready to go in a few weeks.

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Undertheradar

If you have any old cell-phone chargers laying around between 2.5 and 3.2v, you can use them to power the pump rather than the batteries. Then you dont have to worry about those either.

 

Lol, the Gatorade bottles are still the best it seems... either those or the 1gallon apple juice containers which have the same caps... but the Gatorades are sorta square and nice. If you want to get really hardcore, you could use a glass jug, or 5g drinking water jug for higher capacity. You could even make an acrylic box or cylinder with a flange... the more solid the container is, the better the pressure from the pump will be conserved and the easier it will work.

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We are aquarium people, we're all geeks!!!! lol

 

I have two solinoids that automatically dose alk and calcium. The solinoids are controlled by a 555 timer circuit with a check to make sure they don't dose within 30 minutes of eachlor. It works pretty good. I'm working on a pic chip to control everything in my tank (diy acua controller). I just strarted on it, should be ready to go in a few weeks.

 

I can't wait to see that writeup! :)

Do you or Marty have any idea if the output of the micro-controller has any problems handling the impedence of a DC pump?

 

Thanks,

Stuart

 

PS: Gatorade bottles do rock!!! Can't beat 'em, especially for the price.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I can't wait to see that writeup! :)

Do you or Marty have any idea if the output of the micro-controller has any problems handling the impedence of a DC pump?

 

Thanks,

Stuart

 

PS: Gatorade bottles do rock!!! Can't beat 'em, especially for the price.

 

The 555 can handle up to 200mA while most µIC's can handle up to 100mA (or 75mA). Its simple enough to put a transistor on the IC output as a 'switch' though, allowing a lot more current draw.

 

I use a similar 555 circuit to power a CPU fan on my potato guns, commonly called a 'monostable oscillator'. You adjust the duration by changing either the R1 or C1 values; in my case I chose a 1M potentiometer as R1 and a 10µF for C1 , so I can adjust from roughly 11 seconds down to less than 1 second. Colder temperatures demand longer mixing times for my spud guns, and it works well as an exhaust fan as well. Should be easy enough to apply to the needs here.

 

 

Marty

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moneyman6891

where did you put the gatorade bottle, how high does it have to pump the water up the hose? because i would want it in my stand

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You can make a digital top off with an aqualifter and a digital timer with 8 modes. Cost isn't much more significant than using an air pump. It's very quiet and slow dripping. Best thing is you can have it out of view. Good idea for top off but I dont think it would be ideal for tanks requiring more replenishment.

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  • 3 months later...

Could someone give me a hand with setting up my new float switch. I have made a few in the past with one switch but on this new tank I am setting up I am going to have the switch that actually floats and then I have one mounted about half an inch above the normal water level that will be a kill switch to turn the pump off if the first switch gets stuck down (to avert a flood, like one I had from this problem earlier this year).

So far I have the switches mounted on their holder and this morning I cut the wires in the air pump and soldered the switches in how I thought they should go but upon testing it I obviously have something wrong because its not switching as its supposed to.

 

Can someone describe or post a crude pencil drawing of how I should do this? I would love to finish it at lunch.

 

Jerome

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Just run them in series. Run one wire from one switch to a wire on the other switch. Then run the two remaining wires from each switch to the pump splicing them between the positive terminal on the battery.

 

Steve

 

 

so to clarify. the positive power will run from the battery through the switches to the pump motor.

 

Steve

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Thanks for the fast reply. I think my problem is for some foolish reason I attached the positive wires of the switches and the negatives the p/n of the pump. So if I detach the negative ones mend the pump wire and hook the switches together I should be in business. I will post back my results!

 

Jerome

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Any chance ya could get this thing up on Youtube - running live - so we can see how it works " live "

 

I'm interested in ATO but have never seen one in person and having trouble pictuinr how this thing actually works with an air pump forcing water up your hoses into the display tank.

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Okay for some reason I was having a slow mental day yesterday and could not get this thing together, it took me three or four tries until it worked as I wanted. I have built three others but all with just one switch.

I ended up with the negative wire from the battery going right to the motor as it was when I opened up the pump.

I cut the positive wire between the stock on/off switch and the motor so the switch will still function as an off off switch, I then soldered one end of switch A to the wire closest to the battery, I soldered one end of switch B to the other end of switch A and then the other end of switch B to the wire closest to the stock pump switch.

When mounted on the aquarium switch A floats in the water and switch B is about half an inch above the water and in the on position by default, in theory (and hopefully practice) should switch A become stuck for what ever reason in the on position once the water rises a half inch above normal switch B will be activated and turn the air pump off diverting certain disaster within the tank and on my desk!

 

---

Jakesaw, I don't have a video but a short description should help. You mount the float switch in the compartment in your tank that the pump is in if you have a sump or false wall or just in the tank if not. You choose a rigid bottle like a nalgene drill two holes in the lid a little smaller than the air line, then run an air line from the outlet of the pump into the one hole and just have a little bit sticking into the bottle you dont want this one in the water. Then take another piece of air line and run it through the second hole but pull enough tubing through to reach the bottom of the bottle and run the other end up to your tank.

When the water level drops from evaporation it switches on the air pump. The little air pump, pumps air into the bottle as the air fills up the bottle it displaces water, the water only has one place to go, up the tube to the tank. Since the air line tubing is so small this happens rather easily. I have has systems pumping over for feet up into my 2.5 gallon. As water is added to the tank the water level rises and the switch floats up and turns the pump off until more water evaporates and it happens again. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Jerome

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  • 3 months later...

First, the reason many use the DC air pumps is to avoid running AC in the tank thought a little switch. I have done both but I would go with the DC if your tank is small enough to not require a really top off container.

Surprisingly most of the cheap battery powered pumps work well and last a long time. I have been using the same one I bought at kmart or walmart for years now on a few different tanks. The D cell batteries last a long while as well and you can tell they are getting low and need to be replaced by the change in the pitch of the motor when they get low.

However, I did buy one from dr foster smith i forget what brand it is but it has a gray casing and is the one they were selling over the summer, probably still available and the motor was not powerful enough to displace the water. I would pick one of the ones up from walmart or where ever from the fishing section and test it out first to make sure its strong enough for your application then splice the float switch in.

 

Jerome

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BoaConchicken

i just finished setting mine up with the 7 dollar pump from walmart and a 6 dollar float switch off of ebay. It works great and only set me back about 20 dollars. I had originally purchased the Hagen pump from my lfs, but it broke in one day so i returned it and went to walmart. The walmart pumps look to me to be better built than the hagen pump with a stronger looking diaphragm and thicker arms connecting it to the motor.

 

here is a picture of the wiring courtesy of Wet's original design. hopefully this might help clear up some of the wiring issues.

ATO_2.jpg

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Now where can I find good float switches that don't cost $45 to ship to hawaii(normally $10)?

I'd like to get something high quality since I'd love one for my one gallon pico.

And you could add another switch in the bottle in case the top one malfunctions.

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Aquahub is where I purchased mine and seems to be a larger supplier. Be sure to purchase the larger float switch not the smallest ones. I purchased two of the smallest ones and their tolerance for water level is too small for me so they turn the pump on every few minutes so I don't use them. Have you given them a call to ask if they will do a favor and ship the switches via first class mail, the package should be just a few ounces and that cost the same to anywhere! I talked to them once and they were nice, might be worth a try.

 

Jerome

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